La “ciudad perdida de la Atlántida” ha eludido a los exploradores durante siglos y es casi seguro que es materia de mitos. Sin embargo, sorprendentemente, una antigua ciudad que es la Atlántida en todo menos en el nombre ha surgido de debajo del mar cerca de Alejandría, y ahora el mundo perdido de Heracleion está renunciando a sus tesoros.

Al igual que en el cuento clásico, Heracleion fue una vez una ciudad próspera y próspera antes de ser sumergida por el mar hace unos 1.500 años. Fue lo suficientemente grandioso como para ser mencionado por el escritor griego Heródoto, el historiador del siglo V a.C.

Contó la fabulosa historia de Helena de Troya, la mujer más bella del mundo (la del rostro que botó mil barcos), viajando a Heraclion, entonces un puerto de “gran riqueza”, con su glamoroso amante troyano, París.

Una colosal estatua de un antiguo faraón desconocido (izquierda) yace en una barcaza en una base naval de Alejandría después de ser descubierta en la antigua ciudad sumergida de Heracleion. El arqueólogo marino francés Frank Goddio (derecha) explica el texto de la estela de Heracleion

Franck Goddio y los buzos de su equipo inspeccionan la estatua de un faraón. Entre los monumentos más importantes descubiertos en la zona del templo de Thonis-Heracleion se encuentra esta capilla monolítica que data del período ptolemaico.

Pero no apareció evidencia física de un asentamiento tan grandioso hasta 2001, cuando un grupo liderado por el arqueólogo marino francés Franck Goddio tropezó con algunas reliquias que los llevaron a uno de los mayores hallazgos del siglo XXI.

Goddio was in search of Napoleon’s warships from the 1798 Battle of the Nile, when he was defeated by Nelson in these very waters, but came upon this much more significant discovery.

Goddio’s team has since been joined by the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology and the Department of Antiquities of Egypt to produce a wealth of dazzling finds.

The archaeologists first faced the mammoth task of reassembling massive stone fragments on the seabed before they could haul them to the surface. Twelve years on, their fabulous finds have been exposed to public view for the first time after more than a millennium spent beneath the silt and water of Aboukir Bay, 20 miles northeast of Alexandria.

Among the discoveries are colossal statues of the Egyptian goddess Isis, the god Hapi, and an unidentified Egyptian pharaoh — all preserved in immaculate condition by their muddy burial shroud. Along with these 16ft statues, there are hundreds of smaller statues of Egyptian gods — among them the figures that guarded the temple where Cleopatra was inaugurated as Queen of the Nile.

It seems the Amun-Gereb temple at Heracleion was the Egyptian equivalent of Westminster Abbey, where our own Queen was crowned 60 years ago.

Dozens of sarcophagi have been found, containing the bodies of mummified animals sacrificed to Amun-Gereb, the supreme god of the Egyptians. Many amulets, or religious charms, have been unearthed, too, showing gods such as Isis, Osiris and Horus.

These were made not just for the Egyptians but for visiting traders, who incorporated them into their own religions and also, one imagines, kept them as trinkets to remind them of their far-flung journeys.

The importance of Heracleion has been further proved by the discovery of 64 ships — the largest number of ancient vessels ever found in one place — and a mind-boggling 700 anchors.

Other finds illustrate how crucial Heracleion was to the economy of the ancient world. Gold coins and lead, bronze and stone weights from Athens (used to measure the value of goods and to calculate the tax owed) show that Heracleion was a lucrative Mediterranean trading post.

An archaeologist measures the feet of a colossal red granite statue at the site of Heracleion discovered in Aboukir Bay The statue of the Goddess Isis sits on display on a barge in an Alexandrian naval base (left). Pictured right is a colossal statue of red granite representing the god Hapi, which decorated the temple of Heracleion An international team of marine archaeologists is preparing to show some of the objects found in the underwater city Heracleion was mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus, who told of Helen of Troy visiting the city with her lover Paris before the Trojan war

In the ancient world, the Mediterranean Sea was their equivalent of a superfast motorway. All their greatest cities, including Constantinople, Rome and Athens, were either on the coast or on rivers with easy access to it.

And now Heracleion can be added to their number as Egypt’s most important port during the time of the later pharaohs. It was, if you like, a major motorway junction — the spot where the Nile, Egypt’s lifeline, met the Med. Archaeologists have determined that as well as having a naturally navigable channel next to its ancient harbour, a further artificial channel appears to have been dug to expedite trade.

The Heracleion finds will add tremendous depth to our understanding of the ancient world — not least because, among the discoveries, there are perfectly preserved steles (inscribed pillars) decorated with hieroglyphics. Translated, they will reveal much about the religious and political life in this corner of ancient Egypt.

It was a similar inscription on the Rosetta Stone — discovered in the Nile Delta town of Rosetta in 1799 by a French soldier, and now in the British Museum — that cracked the code of hieroglyphics in the first place.

And like the Rosetta Stone, those steles found beneath the waters of Aboukir Bay are inscribed in Greek and Egyptian, too. Who knows how many more archaeological gems will be uncovered at Heracleion?

The very name of the city is taken from the most famous of Greek heroes, Heracles — aka Hercules — whose 12 labours, from 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing the  Hydra to capturing Cerberus, the multi-headed hellhound that guarded the gates of the Underworld, captivated the ancient world.

Heraklion, Crete’s capital and largest city, is also named after Heracles, as was Herculaneum, the ancient Roman town that was buried under ash when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. It appears that Heracleion faded in importance in the later classical period, eclipsed by its neighbouring city of Alexandria, which became the capital of Egypt in 312 BC.

Aún así, Heracleion persistió, más tarde bajo control romano, hasta que cayó en su tumba de agua en algún momento del siglo VI o VII d.C. Qué descubrimiento tan emocionante tenemos entre manos ahora que, 1.500 años después, el mar ha revelado uno de sus mayores secretos.

La antigua ciudad portuaria se encuentra a 20 millas al noreste de Alejandría en el Mediterráneo.